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If I had only known.Jul 11 '02 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Why didn't anyone warn me about this before? I promise, I will get to the part about how to get along with your roommates. Really. Honest. But first, a little background on my roommate experience. I was super duper ready to pack up and leave for college. Until the college sent a letter saying "Sorry! The dorms are overcrowded, so you will be living in the Ramada Inn until a room opens up." Honestly, it was poopy. I did have an entire hotel room to myself though for two weeks. (Read my review about the Ramada Inn. My stay wasn't pleasant.) So when my resident advisor came up to me after two weeks of living in the hotel and said "Congrats! A place has opened up and you'll be moving in," I was pretty thrilled. I was moving into the brand new way awesome dorms...they were actually apartments. I would be sharing one with three other girls. I was thrilled until I found out they were the roommates from hell. I arrived at my new home sweet home, and after one look I was ready to move back into the apartment. My roommates things were flung everywhere... on my bed, my desk, my dresser, my closet... her things completely covered the floor. She moved her things out of the way enough to give me *some* space* So here is tip #1. Share space equally. It was frustrating not having anywhere to put my things in the bedroom and bathroom. I'm not the neatest person but she made me feel like a neat freak. After a week of living in the apartment a few things became clear. My roommates did not believe in housekeeping. They didn't sweep or dust. Dustbunnies built up everywhere.I found myself staying in my bedroom on my half because it was clean. Eventually when the dirt and dust got to be too much I'd clean the entire apartment. I felt like a housekeeper. I was not at college to clean up after them. I didn't think it was fair that I did my dishes while theirs piled in the sink and grew mold. Instead of doing dishes, they went out and bought paper plates and plastic utensils. Tip #2. Divide chores equally. I talked with my roommates and attempted to divide things up evenly... but when they began hiring other students to clean, I gave up out of frustration. Tip #3. Communicate. I should have done this better. When you don't communicate, frustrations build up and cause a lot of unneeded stress. It can ruin the relationship with you and your roommate. My roommates also liked to drink a lot. At 3 a.m. Knowing I had class at 8 a.m. They were loud. Very loud. Tip #4. Respect your roommates needs and class schedule. Very important! The purpose of attending college is to go to class and get an education. When you interfer with study habits, sleep habits, and class schedules, it makes living together a bit more difficult. My roommate liked to take my belongings without asking. She wore my clothes and never returned them. She crashed my computer when I went home for the weekend, losing all my final term papers as well as a project that would determine 50% of my grade for a course one week before finals. She ate my food and offered it to other people. CD's, toiletries, and other belongings began to disapear. Tip #5. Respect your roommates belonging. Don't take or borrowing things that aren't yours without asking Tip #6. Invest in a lockbox. You can't lock everything up, but do keep important things like money, phone cards, ect. in a locked box. Tip #7. Don't hesitate to talk to a resident advisor about problems. They are there to make your time at college a bit easier. Unfortunatly, mine happened to be best friends with my roommate...bringing me to... Tip #8. If all else fails, request another roommate. You can't run to the housing department and ask for a new place to live because your roommate chomps her gum too loudly, but you do have a right to request to move if your roommate is involved in illegal activies that can affect you (such as drugs) or if a roommate is stealing, issuing threats, ect. Unfortunatly, my college was not very understanding. Their suggestion was to speak with my resident advisor and lock my bedroom door. I felt as though the didnt listen... I share a bedroom with someone who is stealing from me and doing drugs and they say "Lock your door". Yeah. Needless to say I did move out...I moved home. The bottom line is...respect your roommates. Communicate openly at the start of a conflict before it gets out of hand. Equality is everything when living together...whether its time, space, or respect.  |
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